EA Sports 500 - Rusty Wallace Notes

RUSTY WALLACE WILL BE CONTENT TO GO SLOWER THIS TIME AT 'DEGA
-Miller Lite Dodge Driver Says "Chase" Drivers Can't Expect Special Treatment In EA Sports 500-

TALLADEGA, Ala. (Sept. 28) - Miller Lite Dodge driver Rusty Wallace only hopes he can go 25.129 mph slower this time around than the last occasion he drove on the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway.

In Wallace's last visit to the Alabama racetrack back on June 9, he turned in an unofficial lap speed of 216.309 mph (44.270 seconds) during a special "unrestricted" test session. That "high speed opportunity" came at the request of NASCAR officials on behalf of Racing Radios, the Hampton, Georgia-based company that serves as the "Official 2-Way Radio provider" for all three of the major NASCAR racing series.

"It was a helluva thrill, I'll tell you that, but going back to the (restrictor) plates this weekend at Talladega will suit me just fine," said Wallace, who was clocked at 228 mph straightaway speeds during the test. "Just like I told 'em back then, it was something that I'll always remember - having the opportunity to blast around that place wide-open and unrestricted. But I walked away from that test with renewed respect for NASCAR's efforts to slow the cars down by using the plates.

"We'd all been wondering what it would feel like to run at Talladega again without the plates and I was the fortunate guy who found out first-hand. I'll bet we could be running speeds up to 235 (mph) without the plates, if we spent time doing some tweaking.

"But I'll tell you this - there's no way we could be out there racing at those speeds," Wallace offered. "It was neat to be out there running that fast by myself, but it would be insane to think we could have a pack of cars out there doing that.

"I'd be on cloud nine just to be able to turn in what (Ricky) Rudd did in winning the pole there during the last race," Wallace said of the 191.180 mph (50.089 second) lap that Rudd turned in picking up the top starting spot for the April 25 Aaron's 499 at Talladega.

As for his overall outlook on this weekend's EA Sports 500, Wallace says to expect the same white-knuckled, nail-biting 188-lap survival contest the Talladega races are noted for.

"We always go into the Talladega races expecting to keep our noses clean and come out of there with a good finish and that's certainly the case again this weekend," offered Wallace, still looking for his first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory on the track after 42 races. "But we're smart enough to know that with this brand of racing, anything can happen. We've had our share of ups and downs at Talladega.

"We went through a period where it seemed like we either crashed or blew up in almost every race at Talladega," said Wallace, whose track record shows an incredible 14 DNFs (did not finishes - in a third of his races to date). "But during the last five to seven years, our luck has really done a big turnaround. We've been running strong, led a bunch of laps and really had genuine chances of winning many of the races. That's what we're looking to continue there this weekend."

As for his take on giving a break to the 10 drivers involved in NASCAR's 2004 "Chase for the Championship," Wallace doesn't sugarcoat his view.

"With 'em running three-wide and 12 deep for most of the race, I don't see how that will be possible unless maybe they run us in separate races," he offered with a chuckle. "But that'd make for a pretty damn boring race I think - to see just 10 of 'em out there getting after it on the biggest track we run on.

"Seriously, I think the situation will police itself as long as everybody uses their heads out there," Wallace continued. "We just hope to stay up there in the lead draft and trust that nobody makes any stupid moves. Then we can see how we stack up at the end.

"But, as for those 'chase guys,' this could be the most pivotal deal of the remaining eight races."

Wallace's fifth-place finish in the second Talladega race of 1988 rates as his best showing to date on the Alabama track. He has posted 12 top-10 finishes in his 42 starts.

In last fall's EA Sports 500, Wallace powered to the front after starting 33rd, led 11 laps and finished ninth, even after getting hung out at the end.

Wallace and his Larry Carter-led Miller Lite team will be racing the PRS-66 Dodge this weekend at Talladega. The car debuted in this year's Daytona 500 and was also raced at Talladega back in April.

"She's like a brand new car," offered Carter. "We have a brand new body on her and she's been tweaked through the (wind) tunnel several times since April. They're saying that this car has the best numbers ever for one of our speedway cars, so we have some pretty high hopes going for this weekend at Talladega."

Friday's qualifying session at 3:05 p.m. (local CDT) will determine all 43 starting spots for Sunday's 188-lap, 500-mile battle. Sunday's EA Sports 500 has a 1:00 p.m. CDT starting time and features live coverage by NBC-TV and MRN Radio.

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